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Will Washington Rescue Detroit's Big Three?

As debate began in the Senate today, Republicans still opposed the Big Three bailout passed last night in the House. Are Southerners unwilling to prevent an economic disaster in the Midwest? Is more "nationalization" really a bad idea? Also, Barack Obama picks Tom Daschle to head the Department of Health and Human Services, and the US wants the UN to track down Somali pirates on land as well as by sea.

FROM THIS EPISODE

As debate began in the Senate today, Republicans still opposed the
Big Three bailout passed last night in the House. Are Southerners
unwilling to prevent an economic disaster in the Midwest? Is more
"nationalization" really a bad idea? Also, Barack Obama on Governor Blagojevich, Tom
Daschle and healthcare, and the US
wants the UN to track down Somali pirates on land as well as by sea.

Barack Obama today named Tom Daschle to be his Secretary of Health and Human Services. Asked about allegations against Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, the President-elect said he's "appalled and disappointed" and hopes he'll resign. Obama said he had no contact with the Governor about filling his vacant seat in the US Senate seat. But in phone calls tapped by federal officials, Blagojevich denounced Obama for refusing to play ball. Obama was asked how Blagojevich knew that. Carol Lee is White House reporter for Politico, covering the transition team in Chicago.

After a compromise between Democrats and the Bush White House, Congress passed the $14 billion Big Three bailout bill last night. Today Barack Obama said government can't stand by and watch the auto industry collapse, warning of what he called "a devastating ripple effect" throughout the economy. But in a debate on the Senate floor today, some Republicans accused the Bush White House of making a bad deal with the Democrats, including a so-called "Car Czar" they said would have too little power. Adamant those against helping Midwestern companies were Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Richard Shelby of Alabama, both from Southern States which have subsidized non-union factories run by foreign car-makers. Are regional interests playing a role in preventing what Democrats, including Barack Obama, call a disaster of national proportions?

In the early 1990's, the bodies of US soldiers were dragged through the streets of Mogidishu, the capital of Somalia. Now the US is asking the United Nations to send a force to that nation. One of the Bush Administrations last policy initiatives deals with Somali pirates who've been wreaking havoc at sea. The proposal is to chase them on land. Ken Menkhaus, Associate Professor of Political Science at Davidson College in North Carolina, served as Special Political Advisor to the United Nations Operation in Somalia during the time of the deadly military clash in Mogadishu.

Guests:Ken Menkhaus, former Special Political Advisor, UN operation in Somalia